


The Mates

by Naomida



Series: Howl at the Moon [10]
Category: Fantastic Four, Invaders (Marvel), Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Werewolf, M/M, Werewolf Mates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-21
Updated: 2016-07-21
Packaged: 2018-07-25 20:21:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7546423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Naomida/pseuds/Naomida
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Finding your mate is supposed to be the very best thing that can happen to a werewolf. Not everyone agrees.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Mates

Standing in the middle of the living-room and watching Johnny and Ben fight about something absolutely stupid, Peter thought, not for the first time at all, that his life was as far from what he had ever imagined it would be as possible.

The whole supernatural creature are actually real revelation aside, less than a year ago Peter had been a university student living in a frankly insalubrious flat that was barely big enough to fit his bed and a chair, working as a photographer for the worst paper ever on the side to be able to feed himself and was running on instant ramen and coffee. He had also been _very_ single.

Now, living with eight other people in a spacious house on the very outskirt of town for free and having quit his job as a consequence, Peter could literally describe what had happened in his life after being bitten with 'started from the bottom now we here'. And it was without even talking about Johnny, his mate and actual life partner.

Johnny, the one person he couldn't live without.

 _Johnny_.

The blond was currently glaring and loudly complaining about something that made Ben roll his eyes and try to talk over him and, just looking at him, Peter felt a wave of affection crash upon him and make him smile softly at the blond.

Johnny probably felt it through their link, because he suddenly stopped talking and turned his head in his direction to smile softly back, looking absolutely adorable.

 _God I love him_ , said the voice in his head, and Peter couldn't tell if it was his or Johnny's.

He didn't really care.

 

 

***

 

 

Ben was without a doubt the most independent wolf of the pack, excluding Loki who didn't really count as a full-time member. It probably had to do with the fact that Ben had been a lone wolf for twenty years without ever feeling the need to settle or losing his mind. That made him different from the others, and he was very well aware of that gap between him and the rest of his pack some times, the utter incomprehension from Reed when he spent weeks at a time away from the house, the disdain from Namor when he popped in right before a Full Moon Hunt, as fresh as any other day of the month, the surprise from Jim who sometimes asked him how it was, to be so detached from the people he wasn't supposed to be able to live without.

Really, Ben had been fine his entire werewolf-life without a pack, and he would still be, had it not been for Alicia.

Sweet, honest and perfect Alicia. The one person who had managed to tie Ben Grimm to one place without even knowing it.

He had met her by pure chance and had known, from the very first second when he had caught her scent, that she was it.

She was the one he was going to mate, not matter how long it took him to do so.

It hadn't taken him long to realize that Alicia, who pretended at the time to have absolutely no idea about him, had her whole life in that city that he was supposed to just pass. She wouldn't drop everything she had just because Ben liked to move around a lot, and there was no way he would dare to ask her to do so anyway.

Which had brought him on Sue's porch, holding a bouquet of soft pink roses and wearing his nicest pair of jeans. He had never seen the Alpha before, just exchanged a rapid phone call so she would grant him access to her territory, and he had to admit that he had never been so nervous in his entire life, pre-werewolf included.

Sue, contrary to his worries, had smiled at him, invited him inside and had even offered him a drink before Ben, buzzing with nerves, had blurted out a rushed “I want to join your pack” before blushing crimson-red and trying to explain the situation to her, stumbling over words and stuttering embarrassingly.

“Of course,” she had replied after patiently waiting for him to completely make a fool of himself.

Her smile had been soft, and her hand had been even softer when she had taken hold of his and looked him right in the eyes.

“I also happen to know just the right restaurant to take her out on your first date.”

Ben had laughed, the weight of the world finally lifting off his shoulders and, without thinking, he had hugged Sue.

 

 

***

 

 

Having a mate was very different from what Reed had been expecting. Hell, it was extremely different from what people had told him it would be like.

He knew his situation was particular, with Victor being half-feral and apparently hating the idea of mating him with so much force that he was willing to sacrifice his own sanity for it, but still. Some days he couldn't help but be disappointed. Bitter even.

Thankfully, Victor's wolf was way less complicated than his human counterpart. When the wolf was in control, Reed actually could feel this link between the two of them Johnny had told him was normal between mates. He could also spend some times with him, which he hadn't even realized was so beneficial for him too until he finally had a chance to do so.

With Victor finally able to look him in the eyes, to stay in his company for more than twenty minutes at a time tops, to actually _sleep next to him_ , Reed felt like he was more in phase with his wolf and with the pack. The air seemed clearer, his steps felt lighter and the whole _world_ looked brighter – and he knew it was the whole mate magic that was responsible for it but _damn_ , now that he finally could get a real taste and actually enjoy it, there was no way he could go back to human-Victor hating his guts and avoiding him like the plague. And that frightened him because he knew Victor would come back at some point, and what kind of mate did it make him that he was _dreading_ that moment?

 

 

***

 

 

Now that Jim was gone and Loki back in his life, Namor _refused_ to even think about it.


End file.
